The Forgotten Tower - A Pathfinder game.

[Mister Ugly]

I'm thinking unchained rogue, or maybe brawler.

It also depends on male vs female for me. I tend to make them different classes

Snake have you considered combining the two. A single level in brawling adding the feat two weapon fighting. and then go with unarmed combat as the rogue finesse add at 3rd. A dex rogue becomes fun. Think of it as one of those rogues that can stab with TWF of beat you badly with unarmed combat. With sneak attack added in and all the rogue talents and goodies. It was a character idea I really considered for Blinkin's story!

MU

[hellrazoromega]

Tweaks made to my character's background based on discussions with the GM.

[Mister Ugly]

Tweaks made to my character's background based on discussions with the GM.

Hey hellrazoromega, Where does the Tressym familiar come from? I have not found it on any familiar list? I know it is from D&D but wondered where it's stats are listed and does it offer a wizard as a familiar?

MU

[Vergil Tanner]

As for the same kind of female...did you mean 'breathing?'  :o ;D ;D

Haha, well...Talan has more of a type than that, but I think it does overlap with "Breathing" :P :P

He would talk magic all the half elf wanted and could even be helpful understanding the black blade.

Well, assuming he made the Knowledge: Arcana roll to know about it, and I imagine that it's a fairly high roll...Black Blades are rare, after all, and Wizards never get them unless they're also Magi. We'd have to see whether Blinkin would want Billiards to be ignorant of the BB's functions or not. :P

Yes he would let Talen copy from his spell book and except the chance to do the same from Talen's. Just remember that a magus can only copy spells that are on both the wizard and magus spell lists [same would go for Alex].

Of course! His mother didn't raise no thieving hypocrite! :P

Since we are supposed to have been together a while we could actually work together to expand each others spell list. At each level we get 2 new spells, so say our characters each take one that are on both the magus and wizard lists and the other any they want. Then trade the spells they both can use. This would give each an extra spell per level. Now with me dropping Alex's UNC monk class and going full caster he will have 3rd level spells which Talan cannot yet use. The character could easy pick up extra spells that way.

Well, we'd have to check with Blinkin about starting with extra spells, but if he doesn't let us (assuming we both get in, etc etc), we can just do that in game, copying the odd spell across before they turn in at night. :P More versatility is always nice! :P

Here is another Idea for you Vergil. If you have the gold make an extra spell book with ONLY the magus spells that are separate from the wizard spell list. I can have Alex to the same in reverse. This gives each a back up spell book should one lose theirs.

Possibly...I might do that later, but at the moment, I can't see it really being necessary; the GM would have to be a huge dick to take away his spellbook and not give him a way to get it back ;) I might do that later, when he has a lot more spells, but I don't think starting out with it is necessary. It's an interesting idea, though! :D

[hellrazoromega]

Hey hellrazoromega, Where does the Tressym familiar come from? I have not found it on any familiar list? I know it is from D&D but wondered where it's stats are listed and does it offer a wizard as a familiar?

MU

They are from the Forgotten Realms, and are available there as an Improved Familiar in that setting, I tossed it in as an ask from the GM. They are winged cats with a high intelligence (12) and a language of their own, but they don't normally speak humanoid languages. They can fly, are super stealthy (cats!!), other than that their only real major ability is they are immune to all poisons. They don't have an official bonus for their master but GMs I have played with in the past have allowed a =3 to poison saves since it fits with their immunity. They are just spiffy little creatures.

[Chulanowa]

Two things off the top of my head.

1) I'm still in "any of the three divine casters" mode - Actually making build decisions will wait until said building phase  ;D

2) If Blinkin wants more non-casting character, I can put something together for that; take up the Monk that MU left on hte side of the road, do a fighter or something (pathfinder fighters, so much good...), I dunno.

[shmone else]

Hi there! I'm new to the forums but I saw this game idea and I'm definitely interested. I'm not sure what exactly I want to play - probably something with a martial bent, but that covers quite a bit of ground. I tend to flip through character art for ideas until I see something interesting and then write based on that, so once I have something more solid I'll write it up.

[vanTheMad]

2) If Blinkin wants more non-casting character, I can put something together for that; take up the Monk that MU left on hte side of the road, do a fighter or something (pathfinder fighters, so much good...), I dunno.

Yeah, PF fighters are pretty rad. My favorite archetype is Cad, because even if it may not be the single most practical build, boy is Improvised Weaponry a blast to roleplay. I'm using Urban Barbarian as my jumping point (essentially, instead of going full rage, they have a slightly less brawny version that doesn't take away the ability to use INT/CHA/DEX skills), so I'll likely be interested in branching into a multiclass that really lets that have a lot of fun.

I've also noticed it doesn't look like we have much in the way of ranged attackers yet, and I'd be willing to tweak miss Brenne to have more of a ranged focus (she was going to be swords first, but carries a bow if needed), but am always willing to sort things over with the group when it comes down to it. In my home group, I typically take the 'fill' role and build something to suit whatever is missing, the only classes I'm generally not familiar with/comfortable on my knowledge of are Druids and Paladins.

[Blinkin]

Lots to answer here, so be patient.

MU: I'll point out again that I'm not looking for power-builds. I know it's the first goal of most roleplayers to min/max, but this will be much more a skills based game than a combat based one. While combat will occur, trying to produce a nitch character will likely work against you in those events. This is why, in opart, I'm looking at concepts rather than mechanics first.

Chuie: Play what you want to play, not what you think a party is lacking. One of my most dispised questions is "What does the party need?" If it's light on martial aspects, I'll compensate, if it's heavy on magic, I'll compensate

Van: The ranged ability will be more than covered by the spell slingers, it seems. If you want to include a ranged weapon, you're welcome to, but I don't want anyone to toss a character because they're trying to fill a nitch.
shmoneels: Welcome to E, and I look forward to seeing what you may offer us.

Hellrazoromega: I'm still not sold on that familiar; I haven't been able to find it myself. If you could give me a link, I'll look at it again.

On the topic of sharing spells, I'll allow it, as long as no one goes crazy with it... assuming that both of you get in. I haven't even thought about making selections yet.

And, no, I'm not that big of a dick to take away a spellcaster's spellbook and not give him/her a way to get it back.

[Rhynarion]

but this will be much more a skills based game than a combat based one

Does this mean that characters who have low amounts of skill ranks, such as non-Lore Warden/Opportunist Fighters, will be at a disadvantage?

[Blinkin]

I don't think that low skill rank classes will be at any particular disadvantage, but it is, in part, why I want a well balanced party and why the characters will need each other. I expect certain skills will be heavily represented, the usual ones such as perception, stealth and so on, but I'm hoping for a fairly wide range of skills between everyone.

Fighters will not be without things to do; they'll have plenty to offer if you're a little bit creative.

I have never agreed with, however, the way that both D&D 3.x and Pathfinder have slighted some classes with really poor skill points while others have way too many points for skills. For example, I've always thought that a wizard's time was filled with fairly focused study that wouldn't really represent a huge range of skills while fighters, who have to have a fairly diverse range of skills don't have much of anything except for muscles.

I use to allow a homebrew feat called "Rogue's Skill." which allowed the player to take a rogue's skill point total rather than the classes's own at the cost of a feat. I haven't decided if I'll do that again or not this time.

[Mister Ugly]

Lots to answer here, so be patient.

MU: I'll point out again that I'm not looking for power-builds. I know it's the first goal of most roleplayers to min/max, but this will be much more a skills based game than a combat based one. While combat will occur, trying to produce a nitch character will likely work against you in those events. This is why, in opart, I'm looking at concepts rather than mechanics first.

Blinkin, I am not sure I understand? Where am I making a power build with a straight up wizard. I plan on just giving him a 18 Int. So Alec would have a well rounded set of abilities. Going with a non-universal wizard gives Alex two schools that force him to use two slots for a spell including cantrips. As an aside. I hate seeing abilities under 10 and try very very hard to avoid that sort of stuff. To me no real hero is so defective that they would have a subpar ability. So I will not min/max. Using the points allowed to get the best possible set of abilities for my concept I will do!

MU

[Blinkin]

MU:

I will apologize for making it seem like I was singling you out. What I'm referring to is the suggestions on how to get a more effective combat oriented character; little tweaks that'll give that little bit extra damage in a game that's been repeatedly stated will not focus on combat.

[Snake]

I have a character made: a half-elf brawler building into arcane archer (specializing in longbow using ancestral arms for prof i it) and built arond the idea of having alot of versatility. 

but its a genderswap character. a male by birth, female by a belt of opposite gender. ;3

[Latooni Subota]

Name: Eowyn O'Ceallaigh
Gender: Female
Age: 19
Race: Human
Class: Alchemist (Crypt Breaker)

Appearance: At first glance, Eowyn is . . well . . rather creepy. She's fairly short for a (apparent) human, even considering her age, standing at an unimpressive 4'9". Honestly, other than the small races most people could probably just pick her up and throw her around. She's clad in a heavy outer robe, leather apron, and rather bulky toolbelt with any armor worn underneath her outer dress. A good thick hood and scarf covers her head, and she wears a true plague doctor's mask complete with smoked glass lenses. Heavy gloves and boots round out her adventuring 'uniform', perfect for dealing with noxious chemicals and fumes, or poisonous critters.

Underneath the mask and garb is . . well . . still a fairly unimpressive young lady. She's a skinny girl with pale white skin, slim hips, and small breasts. She has a fair scattering of freckles across her face, above what little cleavage she has, and the small of her back. Her hair is long (reaching down to her ass when pulled out of her usual braids) and a soft gold-red color. Her eye is a gentle, pretty hazel in color . . and yes, mentioning only one colorful eye is correct thanks to the brutal scar reaching from her scalp to her chin dead-center over her now useless and milky-white left eye. Maybe her insistance on the mask isn't so weird after all, considering that terribly brutal scar . . .

Under the Mask

Personality: Eowyn is a coward. Sad to say, that is the best word for her. You'll never catch her going out of her way to risk her life or stand on the front lines if she can help it . . normally. While lacking in bravery and boldness, when she has allies at her side she's the most helpful and protective girl around. She believes that alone she's effectively useless, but if there's somebody to take the focus of her she can really thrive and succeed. It's only with friends and allies that she's willing to take risks and fight. It might be important to be more specific though: it's the conflict she'd rather avoid out of fright, and generally with larger creatures. She's significantly less afraid of things that take brainpower to solve, like traps and diseases. One might think that Eowyn's issues would mean she'd stay safe at home running a little clinic, but . . well . . while Fear is a good motivator, Greed is equally good, especially with good (and powerful) friends to protect her!

Background: Eowyn is a young human woman born in the trade town of Eastridge, a small frontier town far to the east that acts as the trade hub for the small farming and mining towns in the area. Her mother was a healer, and her father was a retired thief adventurer, and Eowyn learned from both of them. There weren't too many children her age, so Eowyn preferred to stay home more often than not and watch her mother work, or practice working through little 'tests' her father would give her. Usually this ended up as gathering and portioning herbs or learning to unlock little boxes with candies and treats in them, but it worked. By the time Eowyn was a young teenager she was a fairly passable novice alchemist, and a dab hand with a set of picks. By this point all Eowyn wanted to do was head out on a grand adventure like her father did, before returning to take over the clinic. This would never come to pass.

During the spring of her 16th year, her town came under attack by a veritable horde of monstrous bandits. Hobgoblins, orcs, half orcs . . all lead by a brutal and abnormally intelligent ogre with an unholy axe of equally abnormal size. While the town did have a militia and some skilled hunters and retired adventurers, the numbers were overwhelming and the Ogre leader was too strong. By the time it was all over the town was littered in corpses, most of the females dragged into slavery, and Eowyn now sporting a truly massive scar across her face from her ill-advised attempt to protect her mother. It would be over a month until Eowyn was rescued from slavery by a combination of knights, mercenaries, and adventurers called upon to pacify the bandit army and bring peace to the area the capital of the region got a fair amount of it's food from. In the end Eowyn was the only one who survived from her family, after her mother convinced the bandits to let her rest and heal (For the most part) so they wouldn't 'waste' their new slave.

Eowyn was taken back with the other survivors since . . well . . the town was a smoking pile of rubble and new people would need to be brought to bring the area back up to snuff. While in her recovery from the ordeal, Eowyn pretty much sank into herself and threw herself into her studies, apprenticing further under a new healer . . but not staying around long. Hiding herself behind the garb and mask of a plague doctor she accepted a commission to travel with some mercenaries to investigate an unusual sickness spreading across a small town. From there, despite her initial apprehensions, she joined a new adventurer troupe and traveled with them until now, slowly growing closer and helping them do good (And more importantly, make gold hand-over-fist exploring dungeons!).



Tadah! I've been wanting to play this character for a while, so hopefully this is the game. Party role is baaaasically Support. I got heal potions and buffs via infusions, trapfinding, and explosives that are really good on constructs and undead and . . well . . not as good on other things.

[Blinkin]

Snake: A couple of questions. As far as I know, a brawler isn't capable of casting arcane spells, or are proficient with bows, so... how do you eventually make it into an Arcane Archer prestige class? Put up the bio and we'll see what happens. How long ago did he/she come into contact with a cursed item?

La Tooni: Interesting character concept.I assume that you'll have a level in rogue or something to explain the abilities?

[Latooni Subota]

The Crypt-Breaker archetype for Alchemist gives Trapfinding, the Alkhahest bombs, and can swap in a couple of rogue talents as Discoveries. I figured it was more fitting than multi-classing since she's primarily an alchemist, just rather skilled when it comes to fiddling with mechanics and popping locks. She certainly never learned backstabbery and wacky evasion backflips!

[hellrazoromega]

Hellrazoromega: I'm still not sold on that familiar; I haven't been able to find it myself. If you could give me a link, I'll look at it again.

Best I can do is a screen grab of the 3e stats which I know would have to be tweaked if allowed.

stats

Here again, I just see this as an RP thing I am not looking for some advantage I just think they are cool, so if I can have a winged cat with a bit of personality under the Improved familiar feat we can use the pseudo dragon stat block for all I care. If not I'll just swap to the wizard option of having an item rather than a familiar and just chose another feat.

[Chulanowa]

Ahem. Hellrazor, you might want to put that into text... here, lemme get that up for ya... With a little conversion to Pathfinder (Skill changes, Weapon finesse is no longer single-weapon, etc)

Tressym
Tiny Animal
1/2 D8 (2 hp)
+2 Initiative
30', 50' fly (good)
AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex)
2 claws (+4, 1d2-4), bite (+4, 1d3-4)
Special qualities: Scent, Poison Immunity
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 13
Acrobatics +10, Climb +10, Stealth +17, Perception +4
Weapon Finesse
Habitat: Any temperate or warm land
Solitary
CR: 1/4
Treasure: None
Alighnment: Usually Chaotic Good
LA: -

(I have no idea why 3.5 and Pathfinder both keep giving tiny creatures weapon finesse; they ALREADY use dex to attack!)

Also, for background to the critter, there's the Forgotten Realms wiki: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Tressym
And an entry from the 2nd edition Monster Manual: http://www.lomion.de/cmm/tressym.php

[Wargtass]

Can never have too many Pathfinder games going on.  ;D

I'll read through the whole thread and get a feel for what people are aiming for thus far and try to find a suitable compliment in terms of character dynamic. I'll decide later on exactly what class and such.

EDIT: Alright, I see an opportunity here and feel free to shoot this idea down completely, I'll have another one.  ::)

Cavalier Drake Rider

This might sound like a whole bunch of cheese, and it is, until you consider the Drake Rider more closely. It is a Cavalier that exchanges all of its goodies (tactician, banners and even mount) for a drake companion. Quoting from the Legacy of Dragons resource it becomes quite clear that this is a terrible idea:

While many cavaliers dream of riding a dragon into battle, drakeriders come to learn that the reality involves far more effort than they had expected. Unlike other cavaliers, drakeriders must train their mounts from hatchlings, fighting and toiling alongside their drakes for years through countless struggles before the proud dragons are willing to accept them as riders. Some are envious of the close connection between dragonriders and dragons, and so attempt to emulate this relationship by raising drake hatchlings. These efforts aren’t always successful, sometimes leaving the would-be drakeriders dead or maimed.

And if that is not enough, then consider that the drake doesn't become rideable until lvl 13. And even then it might be too stubborn and lazy to allow it, since they are not animal companions. It is in pure mechanical concept, utterly terrible. It is to me, utterly precious. Imagine the starry-eyed and soft spoken knight who hopes to ride his drake one day and next to him is the rather fat and lazy oversized lizard who constantly berates its charge and demands food and comfort. You even have to do a diplomacy check for the lazy bugger to fatigue itself.

Of course this can become a burden for the group. The cavalier itself becomes a shittier version of a fighter who carries an oversized "intelligent" lizard around who can occasionally be convinced to use its fairly overrated drake powers to aid its charge. I would lie if I said I haven't been eyeing this for a while now with a morbid kind of giddiness.

If this doesn't fit in or just seem too shitty, I can, as said, think up something else. I just wanted to toss this hook out in case you would bite.  ;D

[Mister Ugly]

"A Drake rider!? Well heck there knight boy ya just have to use a 2x 4 on it's lazy head now and again to show it you are the boss. If he even eyes my familiar as a snack I will turn it into a newt and it WON'T get better from it!"

Bring it on!

I actually looked at the drake companion for Alex and after reading it over was just not ready to try it. I am game for a lazy lizard and a starry eyed kin-niggit!

MU

[yesiroleplay]

Name: Horace Audlim
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Age: 32
Class: Cleric 5
Alignment: Lawful Good

Appearance: While not a handsome man, Horace does present a striking appearance.  On first impression he looks scary, even evil.  This is a look he cultivates, with long, stringy dark hair and charcoal eye-shadow and dark clothing.
His face is lean and cragged, and his build is lean and quick, his stance sometimes described a catlike.  Of average height and unremarkable bulk, he would fade into obscurity in most groups without ‘putting on his face’ as he puts it.

Personality: Despite his affected persona, which he can maintain quite well, Horace is actually quite a nice guy.  He is pleasant, funny, with a playful sense of humor around friends and trusted companions.  He has an apparently endless supply of jokes and humorous tales, many told at his own expense.  He is slow to truly anger, and quick to forgive.  Most of all, he is a good listener and a supportive friend that can be trusted with a confidence.

In persona he is dour and stern, and terse with acidic pithy remarks.  More often he communicates with harsh facial expressions or menacing body language.  He tries to be intimidating, and succeeds more often than not.

Background: Horace grew up outside the walls of a large city in a poor working-class district that nearly qualified as a slum. From a young age he worked delivering fuel – mostly coal and charcoal.  Hauling heavy loads of wood or coal on his young back to households and businesses that purchased the fuel from woodsmen and colliers.

This back-breaking labor took him all throughout the city, where he saw many folk in many roles and witnessed how they interacted with one another.  One regular delivery he made was to the church of Sarenrae.  This delivery was a welcome chore for the lad, for many reasons.  He delivered through the back door of course, but even the bowels of the temple were notably cleaner and more peaceful than other parts of the city.  And the cook always had cookies, which he shared with young rascals like Horace.  But the main reason he enjoyed deliveries to the temple was a girl.  A novice cleric that often worked in the kitchen.  A young woman much older than the boy, but she was nice to him, and she was very beautiful.  He had a crush on her.

The young priestess was very nice, not just to Horace but to everyone.  And she delivered pastoral direction along with the cook’s cookies.  Horace started attending services.  And when he was able, he joined the church.  The girl moved on to another temple – somewhere out in the wilds away from the city where she felt she was more needed.  But by then Horace was a convert.  He started preaching himself in his late teens.  And by his mid-20’s he was a youth pastor.  It was when he returned to seminary as an instructor in the associated boy’s school that he developed his dark persona.  It was designed to scare wayward youths straight.  And for the most part, it worked.

Quirks: Despite his carefully disheveled appearance, Horace is a neat freak that takes great care in his hygiene and appearance.  He has a morning ritual to put on his face and care for his long straight hair,  And he washes daily and bathes whenever he can.  A lifelong bachelor, he isn’t adverse to female charms, he just holds women to an ideal based on his childhood crush that none can meet, as his memories are more from his own fantasy than of the actual woman.

[hellrazoromega]

Ahem. Hellrazor, you might want to put that into text... here, lemme get that up for ya... With a little conversion to Pathfinder (Skill changes, Weapon finesse is no longer single-weapon, etc)

Tressym
Tiny Animal
1/2 D8 (2 hp)
+2 Initiative
30', 50' fly (good)
AC: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex)
2 claws (+4, 1d2-4), bite (+4, 1d3-4)
Special qualities: Scent, Poison Immunity
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 13
Acrobatics +10, Climb +10, Stealth +17, Perception +4
Weapon Finesse
Habitat: Any temperate or warm land
Solitary
CR: 1/4
Treasure: None
Alighnment: Usually Chaotic Good
LA: -

(I have no idea why 3.5 and Pathfinder both keep giving tiny creatures weapon finesse; they ALREADY use dex to attack!)

Also, for background to the critter, there's the Forgotten Realms wiki: http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Tressym
And an entry from the 2nd edition Monster Manual: http://www.lomion.de/cmm/tressym.php

I wanted to make sure it was approved before going through all that, hence the picture---but thanks.

[shmone else]

The DM's signature says that he's blind, so that might have been a long wait.

My character idea for this game didn't quite come together unfortunately, so I'm going to drop out. Good luck everyone!

[Blinkin]

Wargtass: While the background is interesting, I’m going to have to say no to the drake. An adolescent dragon is just going to be too much of a headache for both the party and me and it really wouldn’t fit into the game that I’ve planned. You have time to submit another concept or adjust this one, but the drake isn’t going to fly…. No pun intended.

Yesiroleplay: It’s an interesting concept. I’m not sure that the face thing would really be along the teachings of that particular church, and the character should take into consideration how his ideal of the church would think of it; wouldn’t her opinion or view effect the original decision to scare students into line rather than with the teachings that originally brought him into the faith? Nothing that would exclude the character from consideration, but questions to be answered.

Hellrazor: I’ll accept the winged cat at this point. No promises that the character will make the final selection process, some tight competition here.

Chuie: Thanks for the translation, a lot of people don’t associate blind with non-graphics compatable. Lol

Shmoneelse: I’m sorry to see you leave.

To all: I’ll close the accepting applications phase at midnight Wednesday (Jan. 18) and the selection process will begin. I’m rethinking my decision about character sheets as there’s a lot of applications and it’s going to be hard to make those choices. So, adding character sheets may help me to narrow things down.